In Mass. cities, lower rates of gun ownership

Trend seen locally, where towns have rates above that of Lowell

A Tyngsboro resident is about four times as likely to own a gun as someone in Lowell, and anyone in Wilmington, Groton, Billerica and Tewksbury is also more than three times as likely.

Even among similar cities in Massachusetts, Lowell has a lower gun-ownership rate than most. It is far behind Chicopee, Haverhill or Pittsfield, for instance. But Massachusetts cities generally trail smaller communities, in some cases by multitudes, when it comes to gun ownership, according to state data.

A few reasons could account for the lower rates. Lowell Police Superintendent Kenneth Lavallee has estimated that 90 percent or more of the licenses are for

hunting or target practice, and said Lowell residents generally aren't as likely to be target or shooting hunters. The city also has a higher standard than most for approving permits, he said.

Nationally, gun permits tend to be increasingly common in smaller communities, too.

From 1972 to 2010, the latest year with data available, the number of survey respondents reporting a gun in their household in the largest 12 metropolitan areas rose by 18 percent. Among the remaining 100 largest population centers, the rise was 39 percent. Among counties with no towns of 10,000 or more, the rate increased by 68 percent, according to the General Social Survey.

"That's fairly typical," said Kate Vittes, a research associate at the Center for Gun Policy and Research at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. "There is definitely a gradient in there.

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The guns are often not handguns but rifles and shotguns, which are used more recreationally, she said.

Another national trend, that Republicans are more likely to own guns than Democrats, is also true in the Lowell area. The area's most conservative towns based on voter registration -- Dunstable, Pepperell and Townsend -- also have the three highest per-capita gun-permit rates. Lowell, in addition to having the area's lowest gun-permit rate, also has the highest percentage of registered Democrats.

Nationally, according to a 2011 Gallup poll, 55 percent of Republicans or those who lean Republican reported having a gun in their home, versus 40 percent Democrats.

Two Massachusetts gateway cities illustrate how police departments have been able to keep gun ownership rates down compared to smaller towns.

The city of Chelsea, with more than 35,000 residents tightly fit in 2.5 square miles, has a policy similar to a probationary period for applicants. Applicants can receive permits for sport use first, then an unrestricted license if a year passes without incident, said Detective Myles Cohen, who reviews permits for the police department.

The city had only 428 Class A licenses, by far the most common license category, last year, less than even the town of Littleton. It has traditionally been tight on allowing guns, Chelsea police Capt. Keith Houghton said.

"The two previous chiefs basically never gave them out. They'd be in court fighting it," he said. "We're still restrictive."

Quincy, a city of 92,000, also has a low gun-ownership rate per-capita but it also has an exceptionally high increase, 53 percent, during the past five years, according to data from the state Firearms Records Bureau. It has more than 2,300 owners of Class A licenses, which allow for possessing and carrying handguns, shotguns and feeding devices, including carrying concealed guns.

Quincy's increase can be attributed to the difference between a former police chief and the current chief, Paul Keenan, said Capt. John Dougan, the department spokesman.

Keenan, who took over in 2008, is less stringent and goes by what state law says on gun permits, Dougan said. But the department still restricts applicants 25 or younger, allowing them licenses only for hunting and targeting.

The increase hasn't led to more gun-related crimes, according to the police department. In the past five years, Dougan said, the city has had only three homicides and none was gun-related.

Lowell, despite an increase of 36 percent in the number of Class A permits, has not had a gun homicide in two years, according to police. Lavallee said he has a strict standard for approving permits. He might issue only a target and hunting license if an applicant does not meet stricter guidelines, he said, such as if they are a victim of a crime looking for better self-defense, or if they need a gun for work.

Gun ownership across the state, including Greater Lowell communities, has risen dramatically in the past five years, according to the number of residents in each community with a Class A license.

A Class A license is the broadest category, but the state also gives Class B licenses, which allow for non-large-capacity handguns, rifles and shotguns. In Massachusetts, anyone looking to obtain a gun license must first pass a firearms safety course. The minimum age is 21 for a Class A or Class B license.

For a firearms identification card, which allows the purchase, possession and carrying of nonlarge capacity rifles, shotguns and ammunition only, a person may be 18 years old. Someone as young as 15 can qualify for an FID card with parental consent.

Gateway cities -- Lowell and 23 others that share economic similarities and manufacturing histories -- experienced similar but often lower increases in the past five years.

On the higher end, increases of at least one-third have been experienced in Lowell, Haverhill, Barnstable (which includes Hyannis), Malden and Salem. Quincy has the largest increase at 53 percent. Some cities had slighter increases, including Chicopee and Everett, which were each 9 percent, and Revere and Worcester, each 11 percent.

Generally, the cities farthest away from Boston, including Barnstable, Pittsfield, Taunton and Westfield, had far higher rates than those closer to the capital.

Cities, despite those increases, still generally trailed smaller communities by significant margins in per-capita gun ownership. Gun-store owners and police chiefs, who ultimately hold the authority of whether to grant a license, told The Sun earlier this month that a big share of gun ownership is either for sport, such as hunting, or for self-defense.

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